Our sulcata baby has not grown......

Does anyone have information on why our sulcata baby has not grown? We have had Sahara for almost a year, but no growth to speak of. We're feeding what we think is a good diet -hay, dark greens, veggies. After a recent episode in which a swollen eye seemed to get the best of her and she refused to eat, she was taken to a vet who gave her an antibiotic for infection and recommended us to another vet with more tortoise experience...she rebounded within a day or two to eating again. We visited the second vet who said she would probably die..that maybe she had a heart or kidney problem contributing to her stunted growth. They suggested more calcium and mineral supplements along with more UVB exposure, but basically said go home and wait for her to die. We ramped up our care of her round the clock..she is back to eating and pooping. She is relatively active, but still is as tiny as ever. I thought that once, in my researching of tortoises, I read about a breed that looked like sulcatas and was often mistaken for them. Has anyone had a similar situation?

I did not start seeing a change in my sulcatas growth untile he was a 1 1/2 yr old.Be patiant they do grow slow

Thank you for the encouragement! We had read so much about sulcatas' growth potential that perhaps we were expecting too much too soon...though she still seems to be a bit of a "runt". With some especially warm days lately she has been out in the sun and exercised her legs quite a bit.

I was in the same boat with my guy.I even took him to the vet at about 9 months old becouse he hasnt grown any thinking he had some kind of growth stunt.Come to find out that the vet i took him to was a sulcata and leapord breeder so he was very familler with growth rate.Unfortanitly mine died suddenly 2 months ago becouse he ate some of my hair that fell in his encloser and it bound him up.Now i own a two year old leapord tort.They too get big but at two years old he is only 5 inchs long.

Originally Posted by Sheila King

We visited the second vet who said she would probably die..that maybe she had a heart or kidney problem contributing to her stunted growth.

I really think the vet was out of line with this statement. Based on pure speculation, she might have a heart or kidney problem, he determines that she's simply going to die. You just don't give a terminal diagnosis on speculation.

Let me relate the story of my sulcata.
He was originally purchased by a good friend of mine as part of a group of 8 or 9. They were all the same age, and all hatchlings.
They were all housed together, exposed to the exact same conditions and fed the same diet. As time passed, all but him grew and developed normally, but he didn't, he remained small.
By the time the others had more than doubled his size, he had to be separated from the group to ensure he wasn't going to be out competed for food.
He was still maintained exactly the same as the others, just by himself.

By the time they were two years old, or perhaps three, this has been a long time so I've forgotten the dates, the rest of the group was 8-10 inches SCL, and my little guy was less than 4 inches. He weighed 98 grams.
At this point he was given to me. He was obviously not going to be a part of a breeding group, and my friend wasn't even sure if he'd live long term. I was wanting a tortoise myself so he let me have him. That was early spring in 2000.

He ate a lot for a tortoise his size. I fed him the standard sulcata fare, his favorites being clover and dandelion greens which he likes to graze on outside.
Despite his very strong appetite, he remained at just under 100 grams for another two years. Not gaining, not losing. Then for no apparent reason he jumped to 300 grams in a matter of 6 months.
he again leveled off there for 2 or 3 more years then grew again to 500 grams.
I haven't weighed him in the last couple of months, but he's somewhere around 600 grams now, and he's going on 9 years old.
Nothing about him is abnormal other than his size. He's very active, has a huge appetite, and is a sulcata in every way. He's just small and I believe he always will be. Some sort of genetic quirk I suppose.

I'm not saying that yours is experiencing the same thing, because it's obviously quite uncommon from what I've seen, but I mainly wanted to convey the fact that there may be nothing wrong with her at all. If she's being kept and fed properly, just because she isn't growing like a normal sulcata would does not automatically mean there's some sort of physical defect that will result in death.

Let me also mention that a few sulcata breeders have told me that they have raised individuals that stayed small for several years then took off and eventually became a normal sized adult.
Early on these breeders told me that mine would likely do this and catch up eventually, but with every year that passes I'm doubting that will happen more and more.

I feel very lucky to have him though. Sulcatas are great tortoises, but due to their size they are not appropriate as pets for many, even for a large percentage of people who already have them.
I get to enjoy the best of both worlds, a sulcata without the massive size.
If mine ever does take off and catch up to where he should be then that's fine too, but if not then I'm completely happy with him just as he is.
The only drawback is those people who do not understand his background and automatically accuse you of providing inadequate husbandry.
I don't talk about him often for that reason. You get tired of defending your ability to properly care for him.

Well i posted on other fourm when my tort wasnt growing much and i was in formed that a slow grath was very healthy and that mine was at a normal size at 1 year old he was 3 inchs.And my vet said he was not going to show singns of groth till a 1 1/1 yrs and thats what happened.So i dont think he was out of line at all concidering so far everything he has said was going to happen has happened.

Originally Posted by dinkanber

So i dont think he was out of line at all concidering so far everything he has said was going to happen has happened.

It wasn't your vet I was saying was out of line. If you'll notice the quote in my post, I was referring to Sheila's vet telling her her's was going to die based on only on a speculative diagnosis.

what did my vet say that was out ofline?I didnt post anything the vet said.I said mine didnt start growing till 1 1/2 yr old.he was three inches till then then he started slowly growing.I was told its healthy for them to grow slow,and the vet didnt tell me that either i read it on a few diffrent web sites.

oh im sorry i didnt read that part.My bad

Il pay closer attiton .im realy sorry